DeSantis takes shot at Trump during 2nd Republican presidential debate

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sharpened his salvos against former President Donald Trump at the second Republican presidential debate, joining a chorus of candidates stepping up their attacks against the presumptive front-runner.

“You know who else is missing in action?” DeSantis said at the Southern California’s Ronald Reagan Library after taking a swipe at Democratic president Joe Biden. “Donald Trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight.”

DeSantis was flanked onstage by former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and fast-talking tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who are in a virtual third-place tie with just over 6% of the projected GOP vote.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, and Mike Pence, who served as Trump’s vice president, round out the field. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is in the running, but didn’t qualify for Wednesday’s event.

Christie also came at the former president aggressively, calling him “Donald Duck” for dodging the debate.

Related Articles

• Donald Trump found liable for wide-scale fraud ahead of trial in NY attorney general’s $250 million lawsuit

• Ron DeSantis faces make-or-break GOP presidential debate

• Trump is skipping the GOP debate, but it’s still all about him

Nearly 13 million viewers tuned in when the field of eight candidates met Aug. 24 in Milwaukee. Trump appeared with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson on social media that night. There’s no clear indicator as to how many people watched that discussion. Trump spent Wednesday night courting autoworkers in Michigan while his challengers bickered. He narrowly defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in that swing state in 2016, but the Wolverine State turned blue in 2020.

Whoever wins the GOP’s 2024 nomination will likely meet Democratic party incumbent Joe Biden, who wasn’t completely absent from Wednesday’s debate.

The president’s team purchased ads on Fox News, Fox Business and Univision – the outlets that aired the event – to run during commercial breaks, according to the Daily Beast.